Impress your guests by bringing out this delicious veggie tart made from scratch. Creamy goats cheese and sweet red onion is baked on top of shortcrust pastry with thyme and balsamic vinegar. A little effort but worth it.

Beef cooked slowly in red wine and herbs until tender is good enough on its own, but topped with a crisp shortcrust pastry lattice, it’s even better. These easy pies are smart enough to serve up for a dinner party.

Spiralising is becoming more and more trendy, so try this new take on spiralised courgette in a beautiful vegetarian tart. It’s low-calorie, low fat and 5:2 diet friendly for a healthy entertaining meal.

If you like Bakewell tart you’ll love this lemon version. A crisp shortcrust shell is filled with lemon curd and a rich egg and ground almond sponge. Serve warm straight from the tin or at room temperature with a nice cup of tea.

A rich, fruity dark chocolate like those from Papua New Guinea will go very well with the chilli. The chilli flavour in this should be an underlying buzz rather than a real kick of heat, so don’t be tempted to add too much.